Ceawlin Thynn, Viscount Weymouth
| Born | 6 June 1974 |
|---|---|
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Positions |
Executive Chairman - Wombat Holdings |
Ceawlin Henry Laszlo Thynn, Viscount Weymouth (born 6 June 1974) is a British businessman and the second child of Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath and his wife, Anna Gael Gyarmathy.[1] He is involved in a number of companies in the leisure, tourism, real estate and financial services sectors.[2]
Contents |
[edit] Education
Ceawlin Thynn attended Kingdown Comprehensive School in Warminster, Wiltshire, and read economics and philosophy at University College London.[3][4]
[edit] Business
Ceawlin Thynn began his business career as an emerging markets specialist at the London investment bank Caspian Securities, before becoming a partner in Sabre Projects – a real estate development firm.[5] At Sabre he put together a project with Group Menatep, the holding company of Russia’s then-largest oil company, Yukos, to develop an internationally branded mid-market hotel in every major city in Russia.[6][7]
Since June 2010, Ceawlin Thynn has been a director at Finmetron AB, a Swedish listed firm offering factoring services in Russia.[8][9][10]
In 2008, he formed The Lion Trust, a private equity vehicle of which he is the principal.[11] The Lion Trust invests in a range of mature and emerging markets.[12][13]
In January 2009, Ceawlin Thynn became chairman of Longleat Enterprises, a limited company which comprises operations at Longleat House and Safari Park on the family estate of Longleat, near Warminster in Wiltshire, as well as the commercial activities at Cheddar Gorge, in the Mendip Hills in Somerset.[14][15][16] Longleat Safari Park opened in 1966 as the first drive through safari park outside Africa, and is currently home to over five hundred animals, including giraffe, monkeys, rhino, lion, tigers and wolves.[17][18] Following Lord Bath’s retirement in 2010, Ceawlin Thynn hired a new Chief Executive – David Bradley, formerly of Legoland – to take the Longleat product and brand forward.[19][20] Together they have distilled a long term strategy for Longleat, hiring designers from Hollywood to develop new attractions in addition to the Safari Park including the ‘Jungle Kingdom’, ‘Monkey Temple’ & ‘Hunters of the Sky’.[21][22] Cheetahs are the most recent additions to the safari park with six having arrived in August 2011.[23] Four lion cubs were born in September 2011, making a total of 10 cubs born this year, and Disney named two of them Simba and Nala as part of a co-promotion agreement for the upcoming Lion King 3D film.[24]
Longleat House was built in the sixteenth century by Sir John Thynn on the site of a dissolved priory, and in 1949 became the first stately home in Britain to be opened to the public on a commercial basis.[25][26][27] The house, park and attractions are open from mid-February to the start of November each year.[28] The 9,800-acre estate, of which the park occupies 900 acres, has long been one of the top British tourist attractions, and has motivated other large landowners to generate income from their heritage in response to rising maintenance costs.[29][30] Longleat leases 400 acres of land to Center Parcs for the operation of the Longleat Forest holiday village.[31]
In 2010, Ceawlin Thynn became Executive Chairman of Wombat's Holdings GmbH – a chain of premium quality hostels in Germany and Austria – having acquired a majority stake in the company.[32][33][34] Wombat’s hostels were voted the best in the world by customers of Hostelworld in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009.[35] In 2010, the Wombat’s City Hostel in Vienna won a Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of ‘twelve years of unparalleled service’.[36] The existing offering includes three units in Vienna comprising a total of nearly 1,000 beds, one unit in Berlin with 350 beds and one in Munich with 300 beds.[37] The company is now preparing to expand into other major European cities, including London, Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Budapest, Prague and Rome.[38] Wombat’s is widely considered to be the premium product within the hostel sector.[39][40]
[edit] Philanthropy
Thynn and his father are trustees of the Longleat Charitable Trust, a registered charity in the United Kingdom.[41][42] The Trust was established in 1996 and has focused charitable activity on relieving poverty amongst people living around the Longleat Estate and Cheddar Gorge, supporting local pensioners with their fuel bills. The Longleat Charitable trust also provides grants to local schools and churches, including the recent refurbishment of the village hall.
[edit] References
- ^ London Evening Standard
- ^ thePeerage.com
- ^ London Evening Standard
- ^ London Evening Standard
- ^ Moscow Times
- ^ Hotel News Resource
- ^ Finmetron website
- ^ ft.com/marketsdata
- ^ This Is Somerset
- ^ Eredene Capital website
- ^ The Times
- ^ Cheddar Gorge
- ^ Tourist Information UK
- ^ Picture The UK
- ^ The Daily Telegraph
- ^ The Independent
- ^ The Daily Telegraph
- ^ Warminster Web
- ^ Heart FM
- ^ Longleat website
- ^ Stately-Homes.com
- ^ UKTV
- ^ Longleat website
- ^ Visit Bath
- ^ The Daily Telegraph
- ^ Warminster People
- ^ The Sunday Times
- ^ Wombats Hostels
- ^ Hostel World
- ^ Web Reservations International
- ^ Pure Austrian Design
- ^ The Sunday Times
- ^ Wombats Hostels
- ^ Charity Commission
- ^ Just Giving
